Well, I want to write a Pokemon Fanfic, but I think at some point in the middle of the story I would have some actual Pokemon and human die, I want to ask if this appropriate and what age group I should put it in.

No, I don;t mean using a setence to describe the memory of a deceased being, but maybe using a paragraph to explain every last bit of seconds before the death...

*note that I have the idea composition in my head, but typing it is another thing.

The site has a PG-13 rating, so as long as you feel that a thirteen or older user could handle it, I would think it's fine. But, if you do write it, just don't make things overly gorey, some kids don't pay attention to the ratings.

Yes, you are allowed to post original fiction or fanfiction of a different focus (Zelda, Harry Potter, etc).

There are no limits as to how many stories you can work on at one time. So, yes you may post short stories while you are working on a longer piece. You may even have multiple long projects going on at once.

Hey, I know it's been quite a bit since anyone posted in this topic, but I have a grammar question that's been bugging me for quite some time now.

When inserting dialog, I tend to start a new paragraph every time a different person starts speaking, and for this reason, my stories get split apart into a bunch of tiny paragraphs. But, as I've heard, this isn't a good thing.

So, how do I counteract this? Is there a way to keep this grammar rule without tiny paragraphs, or is this not a rule at all? I've only learned this rule from what books I've read, and my favorite author (Larry Niven, if you've read any of his stuff - good, old science fiction) uses this rule while keep his paragraphs long. So...yeah. Answer needed.

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Daco wrote:

I swear, if one of those guys said "the cake is a lie" one more time, all of their a$$e$ woulda been mine.

You are right that a new paragraph needs to start everytime a different character speaks; and, if it's a lot of dialogue that changes character's a lot, then you need to say which character it is periodically so that the reader won't get confused.

Ideally, paragraphs should be a decent length. Paragraphs, by definition, are at least 5 sentences: a topic sentence, a closing sentence and 3 sentences that make up the paragraph's body. Lucky for us, that's really more for non-fiction. When you look at the length of a paragraph in a book, keep in mind the margins, size of the page and font size. It can all lead to a different visual affect, making a paragraph seem lengthy and, at times, daunting or small and not worth the time it took to print. The length that good writer's are able to, seemingly, grab out of thin air comes from practice. I've never read Larry Niven's work, but I'm a fan of Tamora Pierce (who writes fantasy). I'm hoping, because not everything published would be considered good writing by the literary community (go on Gaiaonline's writing forum and ask what people think of the Eragon series), create their length through action, description, summarization and narration. Those four elements are what really add the length and depth to a book (aside from the characters). A wonderful character still has to do something, and the reader needs to know what they look like or feel like, they need a summary of events that happened that would be too bland to warrant a proper description, and they need to know about things that happened in the past or things out of context.

Short paragraphs aren't necessarily bad if you try to vary your paragraph sizes. Usually, at least in my stories, not too much is happening when people are talking. After all, that's what they're doing. If you've already described who and what's in the setting, then the most you can do is try to make a believable conversation. Some people are bad at that, trust me. Adding insight to a character's mind can be a fun and help add length at the same time. I'm by no means an expert on this, but I do know that you have to practice a lot for it to improve.

Since you like Sci-Fi, I'm sure you've had your hand at writing the same genre. Why not try reading How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. If the idea of reading a "how-to" book on writing makes you cringe, then just try to trust me. It's short; he tells you up front that there is no "right way to write" and no good writing book will tell you other wise (they'll tell you what helps them but that's the difference); it's not like reading a text book (he keeps it personable and entertaining); and you don't have to agree with any of it. Read it, take what you want and leave the rest. Whether you agree with it or not, you've learned something. You've learned where you stand on certain "issues." Oh, and if you don't mind swearing get the audio book for Stephen King: On Writing. He narrates it, and I thought he was pretty amusing. Since he wrote it, he knew exactly what he wanted it to sound like after all. Again, take what you want and leave the rest. At least that way you'll know how you feel about something and you're no longer ignorant in your opinion.

I know I got a little off topic, but I hope that helped.

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Link changed to my library.

Sat Jun 07, 2008 9:28 pm

Zapheres

Pokemon Trainer

Joined: Sun May 25, 2008 9:52 pmPosts: 46Location: Where the Wild Things Are

I'm not familiar with Tamora Pierce, but I have read the Ender series by Orson Scott Card (in fact, that's what got me really interested in trying to write myself), though I hadn't heard he had a book like that out. I'll check that out at the library next time I'm there. You've also introduced me to some new writing concepts - "action, description, summarization and narration" is a method I'm not familiar with, and I'll see if I can improve with that on the shorty I'm working on. But what about when you're story is full of people conversing while acting? It makes for pretty short paragraphs, especially on a forum page. For example, in the story I was writing before...

Quote:

“Hey, what did I ever do to you guys, anyways?!” Zach pleaded, trying to spit some of the dirt out of his mouth.

“Well, mainly we needed someone to check out the mansion, and you were the scrawniest around.” said the tallest of the goons. The word “goon” seemed to fit with him – his grin as he walked, the way he dragged Zach over every log and stone on the road, the way some of the adults looked horrified and helpless. Yes, this man was the definition of goon, and –

Suddenly he noticed the goons were taking him out of town, and fear struck through him as he remembered what the head goon had said. “W-w-wait, the m-mansion? B-but – pleagh!” he ate a mouthful of dirt as they flipped him over.

“Yeah, the mansion! Oh, believe me, you and the other zombies will have a great time in there. Oh, and if they ask for brains, just say no, ‘kay?” The goon began to chuckle in a way only demons could.

It went on kinda like that for a lot of the story - one/two lines per paragraph. Is there some way to counteract that?

Also, if you like fantasy, I recommend Anne Bishop's works. She's got some rather...explicit...sex scenes, unfortunately, but overall it's some of the best fantasy I've read. After all, I read it when I was about thirteen - how horrible can it be?

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Daco wrote:

I swear, if one of those guys said "the cake is a lie" one more time, all of their a$$e$ woulda been mine.

Tamora Pierce write's more for girls I think, but I love her quartets The Lioness Quartet and The Protector of the Small. I read Ender's Game by Card over vacation after I read your post. It was really good. I just got Speaker of the Dead, but I still have a bunch of other books to read. Who knows how long it'll take me to read them all. They're not new concepts; you probably just never heard of them talked about. You probably knew about them intuitively from reading and writing.

As for your excerpt, I see things that could be improved in it but it's not bad. If that's what the entire story is, then you really need to think about your story structure. Don't rely so heavily on dialogue to move your story along and rely more on the character's actions (aside from talking) and emotions. Going more indepth about those will lengthen your paragraphs and add another level to your writing. Try writing a short story without dialogue of any sort: not thoughts, talking to themselves, anything. See what happens. Lol, as for "explicit sex scenes," I've gone to high school (and survived), I'll be 18 soon, and I've read a few romance novels when there was nothing else around. I think that I can handle it, thanks for the warning though.

I was wondering if this Fan Fic thread was JUST for Fan Fic (Pokemon stories) or if we could post ANY creative writing things? Because, I had a book posted here long ago (it sucked, I've improved) and I sensed it made alot of people angry, even though nothing was said. I was wondering if any of that has changed. I didn't see a question thread so I figured this is where to post this.

Yes, you can post ANY creative writing things. Most of Crimson's stories don't involve pokemon, and I actually have a thread up with my random crap that (I don't recall) isn't related to pokemon at all.

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